Saint3333 wrote:Moose that is a fair point.
However to date our last two classes have seen a larger percentage of players that were more highly recruited by what the general public views as better programs.
I can not predict the future to say those players will be better as App has had some very good players at the FCS level, but I can say that overall these recruiting classes on paper have been getting better.
Saint: While my post was general and while it is true that we won't know exactly what caliber of player these turn out to be for a little while longer my post was really aimed in another direction. No one can say how many of these "FBS" recruits we will place in the NFL vs us at the FCS level until the FBS players actually make it to draft time. And you are right in saying that, on paper, many of the offer sheets for these last two classes have been better.
I've kept out of most discussions lately but this is one topic I have a bit more info about than the norm. I spend hours a day searching for information, following these players, talking to the staff, talking to people at the recruiting sites, watching what they say when a new offer comes in, trying to figure who is realistic and who's not, etc, etc. I'm sorry Old Wideout but to say
" I'm not sure we have one kid on the team that we wouldn't have really had a chance at anyway…….." regardless of the move is simply not true. I don't have exact numbers nor do I have the time to look up every interview from every player in the last two classes but based on little notes I put on my personal lists more than half of each of these classes mentioned in articles from the sites, told the staff, or said on twitter that the fact that App was moving or was FBS played into their decision.
You say there is no real way to know that? How about their own words? If the players own words don't count for you then nothing else will. I chose to believe the actual words they say and take them at face value. I guess I'm funny that way. But if you need more proof you can go back more than 10 years at each recruiting site and see who our commits were and who their additional offers were. It isn't an exact measure but these past two classes have had more players with multiple FBS and BCS offers than in the past. That is a provable fact in black and white. How they turn out is still to be determined.